I have a friend who is not one to splurge on anything unnecessary for the kitchen, who has aquired a Thermos Thermal Cooker (http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Thermal-Cooker-RPC-6000-Stainless/dp/B0036FK3UI/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1315782746&sr=8-9) and has become in a few short weeks a thermal cooker advocate. evangelist, going so far as to invite friends over to see her new cool tool. Here's the jist: heat the food on the stove top in one of the pots, then snuggle it into the cooker, and enjoy several hours later, or as your recipe calls for. My friend is kicking her crockpot to the curb in favor of this low-fi, low-energy alternative. A little work with google gets you a lot about thermal cookers, which, of course, are far more widespread in areas of the world where energy costs more or is less available. I've seen a demo and I'm saving my pennies. I use a hay box cooker from time to time, but it doesn't have nearly the efficiency of this thing.

I have a friend who is not one to splurge on anything unnecessary for the kitchen, who has aquired a Thermos Thermal Cooker (http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Thermal-Cooker-RPC-6000-Stainless/dp/B0036FK3UI/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1315782746&sr=8-9) and has become in a few short weeks a thermal cooker advocate. Here's the jist: heat the food on the stove top in one of the pots, then snuggle it into the cooker, and enjoy several hours later, or as your recipe calls for. My friend is kicking her crockpot to the curb in favor of this low-fi, low-energy alternative. I've seen a demo and I'm saving my pennies. I use a hay box cooker from time to time, but it doesn't have nearly the efficiency of this thing.